Over the last 30 years I’ve taken a keen interest in Gatwick Airport, watching it become ever more successful. There have been setbacks, such as during the first Gulf War, after 9/11, and the Icelandic volcano, but the overall trend has been of economic growth and success.
While Crawley’s economy has diversified over this time, our town’s success is still very much dependent on the airport. It’s been heart-breaking to see what’s happened to aviation over the last four months and its impact locally.
During the lockdown there were just one to three daily flights in and out of Gatwick, with hardly anyone on them. It picked up from mid-June to around seven flights a day, and last weekend it was up to around 21 flights a day. These flight numbers are exceptionally low for Gatwick and the numbers of passengers per flight are well down. Some estimates say it will take three years for Gatwick to recover to where it was pre Covid-19.
Thousands of airport staff and those in industries that support the airport are currently on the government’s furlough scheme, but this comes to an end in the autumn, making it vital to have increased Gatwick flights as soon as possible.
The good news is that from Friday this week, we will be able to travel to many countries without having to self-isolate when we return. This includes most of Europe, meaning that summer holidays are back on. We should also start to gradually see the arrival of tourists. The government is working closely with international partners around the world to discuss arrangements for travellers arriving from the UK. The exempted countries and territories are being kept under constant review.
With Crawley more affected than anywhere else, Gatwick needs our support in order to limit local job losses. The opening up of routes abroad is a great start, but we also need to be willing to fly once again and more generally for Crawley, have political leadership at our local Council that isn’t behind the curve on getting our economy back to normal as soon as possible.
Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group
8th July 2020
